Big sounds for a small set

A PAIR OF wireless earphones that is comfortable to wear for long hours and reproduces good sound quality, the Sony Stereo Bluetooth Headset SBH70 also has the advantage of being water and sweat resistant. 

The phones can easily be matched to a mobile with the NFC (near field communications) function, making them ideal for use with, say, the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua. I tried them with the camera phone and NFC function on SBH70 and M4 Aqua allowed the two devices to establish a Bluetooth link in seconds.

I tapped the headset’s “N” mark to the “N” mark at the back of the phone and the two were automatically paired and the M4 Aqua also downloaded and installed an app for controlling the headset.

SBH70’s own app shows battery status and adjusts the sound setting. The status also shows when the headset is linked with the phone. Moreover, the app provides usage tips for the headset.

The app guides you to download Lifelog, which is a fun audio diary app. You can then use the headset to record a 10-second sound memo to Life bookmarks in the Lifelog.

The SBH70 is designed to be worn comfortably around the neck with control buttons built into the left and right handles of the neck strap. The buttons are designed to be controlled with your fingers without needing to look at them, though you will have to spend a little time familiarising yourself with their positions before the gestures become automatic. The power key and call key/play/pause key are on the right side while the volume up key and volume down key are on the left.

A microphone and a notification light are also embedded on the right side.

Apart from using the SBH70 app to learn the status of the headset, you should also learn to read the colours of the status light. A red light means the battery remaining is about five to 15 per cent while the green light translates as a battery level of 50 to 100 per cent. A flashing blue light means the headset is in pairing mode and a flashing purple light means a call is coming in.

And once you’ve taken call, the echo, wind and noise cancellation feature allows your conversation partner to hear your voice clearly.

Since both M4 Aqua and the SBH70 are waterproof, you can enjoy listening to music in the rain or while exercising. You can even make a phone call during a downpour. I tested using it during a jumping jacks workout and the buds didn’t fall out nor was the music disrupted. 

I particularly liked the Multipoint mode, which allows the headset to pair to two phones at the same time. You can even receive calls from the two phones without having to disconnect one first.

The headset has good sound quality with signal-to-noise ratio of 100 dBA. Each earphone uses a 14 mm dynamic driver that’s designed to have the main speaker part producing sounds on one side, instead of at the middle like most earphones.

To make most of the sound quality, you need to place the phones properly in the ears to allow the speaker front to emit sounds to the ear canal.

The SBH70 is outstanding with mid and high sounds, making it good for conversation and for listening to muzak. The bass though is not very deep, but if you place the earphones properly, you can still hear enough to enjoy the music.

Sony Stereo Bluetooth Headset SBH70 has a suggested retail price of Bt2,990.

 

Key Specs

- Driver: 14 mm dynamic

- Frequency response: 35 – 18,000 Hz

- Max SPL: 100 dBA

- Total harmonic distortion: less than 1 per cent

- Microphone: ECM (HD voice compliant)

- Supported Bluetooth profiles: Headset Profile V1.2, Hands-Free Profile V1.6, Advanced Audio Distribution Profile V1.2

- Controls: power on/off, call/music key, volume keys

- Connector: Micro USB charge

- Battery: 125 mAh, streaming time: up to 6 hours

- Dimensions: Height: 73 mm, Width: 134 mm (excluding speaker cable),

- Speaker cable length: 210 mm

- Weight: 25.7 g